Reaney's Pick: Cover ace finding own voice

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Already winning awards for her covers, Strathroy’s Bailey Pelkman shares an original in this week’s Reaney’s Pick video.

“It’s a bit older (about a year), not too new,” Pelkman said of Save Your Love. It will be one of the tracks on her forthcoming album, being recorded at Randy Rektor and Alex Baerg’s Studio B operation.

“That’s been really nerve-racking because I’ve written songs for a long time, but it’s been something I’ve never shown anyone because I was really nervous. Showing someone my own stuff is a lot different than just doing a cover,” Pelkman told QMI Agency.

“I’ve done performances where I’ve been trying to break out of my shell and I’ll sing an original song here and there. Everything that I’ve got back has been positive so far. I’m kind of taking a leap of faith and hopefully all goes well.”

Pelkman’s command of covers helped her win the London Covers 2014 crown at the London Music Hall earlier this month. Among its prizes is an opening slot at the 185 Queens Ave. club. Those details are still being confirmed.

“I was big into theatre as a kid,” Pelkman said. “I think that’s how I got a lot of my confidence, performance-wise,”

She added 10 years of piano lessons, while also learning how to play guitar, ukulele and flute.

The graduate of Strathroy Holy Cross Catholic secondary school is now studying at Fanshawe’s music industry arts program.

Pelkman, 18, has already become a presence on YouTube with her covers.

Her first viral video came when she mashed I Will by The Beatles with the popular Cup Song from Lulu and the Lampshades. That stands as her most popular upload with north of a quarter-million views.

Her covers of songs like Beyonce’s Halo and Train’s Soul Sister have view counts in the thousands.

Last fall, Pelkman decided to get into the Halloween spirit by putting her own twist on Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller.

“I wanted to do a cool rendition of it and I thought it would be a good idea to put it up just before Halloween,” she said.

The video — a slower, acoustic-pop version of the all-time classic — made its way onto the main page of popular social media site Reddit.

Pelkman’s Thriller gained more than 100,000 views, got posted on notable sites all over the world and was even shared by a Jackson ally on the original session, recording engineer Bruce Swedien.

“I knew I would probably get a lot of responses (to the Thriller video) that were like, ‘you shouldn’t do a cover of this song,’ but to me that’s what a cover is,” she told QMI Agency.

“A good cover is about making a song that was originally done by someone and putting your own style in it — making it your own.”

Now, Pelkman sees her recording, videotaping and editing songs at home turning into an enduring passion.

“Something that was always a hobby for me is becoming a career,” she said.